It’s been quite some time since the public saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. After he announcement in 2017 that he would no longer work as an actor, just before the debut of The Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his reputation has only grown.
The Legend of His Method
Largely, this legend centers on his favored style of working. Being an actor known for disappears into his characters – for example, during Lincoln, he had the director call him “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with his process. Is it true he really send messages to co-star Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during The Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on being spoon-fed while filming My Left Foot?
Extreme acting methods: has the public fallen out of love with over-the-top performances?
Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is back to public attention, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. He is using this to express his anger regarding how the Method technique is perceived. “I am somewhat annoyed these days to hear various individuals talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which seems is meant to imply that a person’s behaving like a lunatic in an extreme fashion,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important aspects of acting, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or an experience that causes a severe discomfort or mental instability. However, in the life for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the internal work.”
An Industry of Imitators
To be honest, this sounds like the actor has come out from seclusion only to discover aghast at the world that has developed in his image. If you’re widely considered one of the greatest performers to ever work, and your process includes striking a prop until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation without food or water (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic your hero.
Essentially, we exist in a landscape full of half-cocked imitators of Day-Lewis who strive only to demonstrate the sheer amount of effort they invest in a character. On the milder side of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award with House of Gucci that she dedicated the whole campaign trying to convince everyone that she became an Italian native for a year and a half in preparation.
Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to fellow cast members. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted the most extreme claims. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon that they literally managed in creating a full-length documentary out of B-roll of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for everyone around him.
The Modern Followers of the Method
The main Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach during Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, full of quotes from individuals who were worried for his behaviour (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by his actions (“I recall him causing everyone else to react with exasperation,” stated an unnamed co-star).
Daniel Day-Lewis says he ‘never intended to retire, really’
There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that Austin Butler still speaks like Elvis Presley, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, in part, aims to evoke the seriousness with which Day-Lewis takes his craft.
An Admirable Yet Challenging Battle
Moreover, while his fightback against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Maybe if he wishes to remind people the true essence of the Method, or to show them what it can achieve, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to simply start making more films. Certainly we could all get behind that.
